Rowers are celebrating a lottery windfall which has paid for three new boats.

West Norfolk Rowing Club bought two one-person and one two-person vessels, which have been named Kingfisher, Grebe and Wissey Bizzey, with a £10,000 grant from Sport England.

The 16-strong club was formed last year. It plans to use the boats to explore the waterways around its headquarters by the sluices at Denver, such as the Great Ouse and River Wissey.

Captain Phillip Bancroft said: 'We predominantly use the freshwater Great River Ouse from Denver southwards which is ideal for all types of training.

'A short row from our facility is the River Wissey which is wonderful to tour on and for some distance is higher than the land around it. An incredibly picturesque row, the river meanders deep in to the Norfolk landscape which changes with every corner. Having a wonderful facility on our doorstep is a privilege and what better than to scull in the open landscape and to take full advantage of the equipment to enjoy a healty lifestyle.'

At present rowers take to the water for fun, rather than competitive events. The club focuses on sculling rather than more strenuous sweep rowing as this proves to be more flexible with rowers of different ages and abilities.

It runs regular taster sessions for beginners, which can be followed by a learn to row course at the end of this course participants are then invited to join the club and row with other members.